Microsoft Xbox One X (XBOX) Reviews and Impressions

[scently]

I like the standard one better. Preordered the Scorpio edition but I didn't like the gradient in front so I canceled it and ordered the Standard one.

 

[iroboto]

I miss my Kinect

 

[egoless]

I miss my Kinect

I don't. Adapter attached, and having a blast.

 

[AzBat]

I think that's a little unfair. Why more money than sense? What would be sensible about not buying an XBox One X if you like console gaming and XBox?

He already has a PC & can (if he's not already) enjoy Xbox PlayAnywhere titles. He just spent $500+ to be underwhelmed? Everything about the system was there for people to know what you were getting. So he didn't do much research. If I had his disposable income & his PC I surely wouldn't have spent it on a console: Thus the "more money than sense" comment.

I can understand his sentiments and it's a problem with mid-gen upgrades. These boxes are the same cost as a new console, spent sooner than a new generation and not offering anything like a next-gen upgrade in gaming. So people spending the same amount and not getting the same return, even if they consciously know they won't, could certainly feel underwhelmed. It's a whole new state and experience in console gaming. Indeed, I'd be shocked if people were lauding XBOX with the same sort of enthusiasm as a typical new console generation; it's naturally a bit 'meh' in console gaming terms, and for people who are happy to spend a premium for a 'nice enough' experience. Those with HDR displays will likely feel much more satisfaction as that is a very visceral improvement.

There's nothing wrong with mid-gen upgrades. It's another option for people. It's also a niche box. Meant for people who know what they are getting with it. MS has delivered on what they promised. It's not meant for everybody. That's why I don't have one. I won't spend $500 on a console: mid-gen or new gen. I will eventually get it but only when it hits my price & when I have the necessary 4K/HDR TV to go with it.

You know what's wrong? Getting a newly designed console 3+ years later that doesn't do anything better than the original. What a waste of potential. At least MS has given people options at both ends of the price spectrum & with upgrades for both to boot.

Tommy McClain

 

[Rangers]

Err, I dont have a gaming PC (well, at least no GPU currently) and haven't heavily PC gamed in years...why do you keep saying that? Talk about not doing research so on and so forth.

I dunno, just not seeing the huge upgrades on 4k enhanced titles like Gears, Forza etc. I'm sure they're there if you have sharp eyes...

I'm pretty sure I'll keep it because I feel like there's a bit too many Xbox One games where low resolution (down to 720P) is a problem. I think there'd be even less cause for a mid gen upgrade if you owned a PS4 which is a more solid (AKA mostly 1080P) base. Also I guess depends a lot of you have a 4k or 1080P TV obviously.

Also although I have a 4k TV now, I'm not sure I'm seeing a lot of benefit as it's some 10ft away and 55", which according to "those charts" I need a much larger TV at that distance to take advantage of 4k.

Also contributing to my underwhelmed feeling is lack of a new, maybe X1X specific, dash or I dunno, just something snazzy and flashy. I wanna feel da powa in some kind of superfluous way.

I dunno why it caused some big outrage, you guys should know I change my mind every five minutes. Tomorrow I'll probably be posting about how amazing Xbox One X is.

Certainly at least the workmanship/build quality seems superb. For $500 though it better be.

 

[AzBat]

Err, I dont have a gaming PC (well, at least no GPU currently) and haven't heavily PC gamed in years...why do you keep saying that? Talk about not doing research so on and so forth.

My bad! Could have sworn you were a PC gamer. Must have you confused with somebody else. Sorry! Going to take some lashes & some research before I post again.

Tommy McClain

 

[Rangers]

Quantum Break was a 83 GB DL for me, when websites seem to say it's 102GB (94+8 I guess) before the TV pack. That's weird and led me to begin wondering if I'm really getting the enhanced version.

Further in DF video they show options for 1080P or 4K in the display options of the game, there are no such options at all for me. They just dont exist.

I'm assuming the game just knows I'm on a 4K TV and doesn't give me a 1080P option? Or the situation has changed since DF looked at it?

Same with Gear 4, I just start playing, how do I even know I'm playing in 4k? It looks sharp enough to be 4k but in all these videos they often talk about options (such as 4k mode vs quality mode), where are these options in the games?

 

[scently]

Quantum Break was a 83 GB DL for me, when websites seem to say it's 102GB (94+8 I guess) before the TV pack. That's weird and led me to begin wondering if I'm really getting the enhanced version.

Further in DF video they show options for 1080P or 4K in the display options of the game, there are no such options at all for me. They just dont exist.

I'm assuming the game just knows I'm on a 4K TV and doesn't give me a 1080P option? Or the situation has changed since DF looked at it?

Same with Gear 4, I just start playing, how do I even know I'm playing in 4k? It looks sharp enough to be 4k but in all these videos they often talk about options (such as 4k mode vs quality mode), where are these options in the games?

They removed the 1080p mode in QB. Gears option is somewhere in the video menu in main menu. Its not accessible during gameplay.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

Also contributing to my underwhelmed feeling is lack of a new, maybe X1X specific, dash or I dunno, just something snazzy and flashy. I wanna feel da powa in some kind of superfluous way.

Yeah, I was thinking that. Switching any of these mid-gen consoles on, you get the same fundamental experience. That emotional impact is going to be 'meh' no matter how prepared you are - $500 to get exactly the same thing. First time you got an iPhone over your fixed-button Nokia, it was amazeballs. When you got your next phone, that amazement was gone because it was no longer new. Nothing can be done about that feeling, and I see nothing wrong with sharing that sentiment, free speech and all that. It might also inform product development - what if a mid-gen refresh could come with more pizazz and excitement, and generate some real hype? Is there a way to make it feel more like a next-gen console? Or would that be bad for true generational advances? Or is it going to get prosaic anyway with non-generational advances every 3 years?

The purpose of this thread is impressions, and that means all honest impressions should be welcome.

 

[ultragpu]

I have to buy a UHD disc first. I will be shopping for planet earth II this Black Friday. Unfortunately I won't until then. I will try a standard Blu Ray for now; will report later tonight.

Let me know how your situation progresses

So got my second unit today and first the good news, the clicking, rattling sound is non existent. The bad news is the elevated black level is still present and only found when playing UHD HDR blu rays. the standard blu ray plays flawlessly with inky black bars. Also this HDR issue is spreading out on AVS forum too, quite a few users with TVs from all kinds of different manufacturers (including ZD9s, LG Oled c7, c6 etc) are encountering the same problem.
I'm guessing MS shit the bed with their Blu Ray app on the X, really hope they get noticed and issue a patch asap. The One S played UHD rays flawlessly at launch so with a much more beefier and expensive machine you'd expect things to be at least on par if not better. Man I'm disappointed, might have to buy a dedicated UHD blu ray player if it's worth it all together.

 

[ultragpu]

Anyone know how do I keep the 1X downloading updates while the system is off? Is it set to Instant On mode and uncheck the "when system is off close the storage" box?

 

[Nisaaru]

Even after the release of a PS5/XB2 there won't be a jump like for 360/PS3 in a year or so. It's just not feasible for economical reasons. So we aren't between generation. Console baselines are defined by market size and not by technology anymore.

 

[iroboto]

Anyone know how do I keep the 1X downloading updates while the system is off? Is it set to Instant On mode and uncheck the "when system is off close the storage" box?

Settings> Startup and power saving > instant on

Storage in only referring to external storage. It's asking if you want Xbox to keep powering your USB ports even if it's off.

 

[BRiT]

Anyone know how do I keep the 1X downloading updates while the system is off? Is it set to Instant On mode and uncheck the "when system is off close the storage" box?

Settings> Startup and power saving > instant on

Storage in only referring to external storage. It's asking if you want Xbox to keep powering your USB ports even if it's off.

From what I have seen posted by others everywhere, in order to have auto-updates always function if your external drive is the default installation drive then you need to uncheck "when the system is off turn off the drive" selection. I don't know if they've changed that or not or if it's absolutely required. My external drive has its own power so I always had that user setting unchecked.

The way I'd implement the auto-update system is when the xbox wakes up from standby to check for auto-updates it would turn on the USB ports (if user setting was off), wait for drives to spin-up, and then check for updates. When the update check and any new installations are finished, then the system would go back into standby and power off USB ports if and only iff a controller wasn't plugged in and charging and then based on the user setting.

 

[mrcorbo]

So got my second unit today and first the good news, the clicking, rattling sound is non existent. The bad news is the elevated black level is still present and only found when playing UHD HDR blu rays. the standard blu ray plays flawlessly with inky black bars. Also this HDR issue is spreading out on AVS forum too, quite a few users with TVs from all kinds of different manufacturers (including ZD9s, LG Oled c7, c6 etc) are encountering the same problem.
I'm guessing MS shit the bed with their Blu Ray app on the X, really hope they get noticed and issue a patch asap. The One S played UHD rays flawlessly at launch so with a much more beefier and expensive machine you'd expect things to be at least on par if not better. Man I'm disappointed, might have to buy a dedicated UHD blu ray player if it's worth it all together.

It may be worth experimenting with the different Video Output options if you haven't already. Most specifically "Allow 4:2:2", "Color Depth", and "Color Space". Some TVs make assumptions about certain combinations of resolution/framerate/color format ("RGB? Aha! You must be a PC!") that cause them to jack up the levels.

 

[ultragpu]

It may be worth experimenting with the different Video Output options if you haven't already. Most specifically "Allow 4:2:2", "Color Depth", and "Color Space". Some TVs make assumptions about certain combinations of resolution/framerate/color format ("RGB? Aha! You must be a PC!") that cause them to jack up the levels.

I have done them already, pretty much gone through all the options in the Video Output settings, nope makes no difference.

Settings> Startup and power saving > instant on

Storage in only referring to external storage. It's asking if you want Xbox to keep powering your USB ports even if it's off.

From what I have seen posted by others everywhere, in order to have auto-updates always function if your external drive is the default installation drive then you need to uncheck "when the system is off turn off the drive" selection. I don't know if they've changed that or not or if it's absolutely required. My external drive has its own power so I always had that user setting unchecked.

The way I'd implement the auto-update system is when the xbox wakes up from standby to check for auto-updates it would turn on the USB ports (if user setting was off), wait for drives to spin-up, and then check for updates. When the update check and any new installations are finished, then the system would go back into standby and power off USB ports if and only iff a controller wasn't plugged in and charging and then based on the user setting.

Thanks guys, gonna be needing it since the download speed where I live is beyond poop.

 

[Scott_Arm]

I have done them already, pretty much gone through all the options in the Video Output settings, nope makes no difference.

If you join the insider program you can submit bugs on the console. It'll even capture screenshots or video to submit with your report. I don't remember how it works, when you sign up, but there are multiple rings so you can get updates fast or slow. I'm alpha ring so I get everything first, which can at times mean you have to deal with issues. But there are slow rings where you typically won't encounter any significant issues.

 

[ultragpu]

Oh, I'll look into it, thanks Scott.
Also is it just me or the Instant On mode downloads update so much slower than leaving it On? I'm installing and downloading 103 gigs of Gears of War 4 file with a physical disc btw.

 

[goonergaz]

Now I've plugged it in...of course in todays console world it's a lot of waiting. Starts right off of course with an "required update", which was 700 some MB so paltry by todays standards, but due to the console taking a long time to "process" the update besides downloading it, still took too long.

Then there's the games themselves, although I had set my S to DL any 4k updates the last few weeks, guess Quantum Break was on my S internal drive so I gotta DL that to play it, 83GB! Ridiculous. That'll push me over ISP cap this month (250GB) and cost me $10. And take a few hours.

I tried Gears 4 on the X, very sharp, but no fundamental change to the graphics, but I left that game after my campaign playthrough on the S pretty much despising it.

Judging by Digital Foundry the improvements to games like Halo 5 will likely be subtle stuff you wont notice except in a side by side, not that thrilling.

All in all I'm pretty dang underwhelmed although I should have known that going in. The box is $100 too expensive, point blank. Sure it's 6TF but the nature of the beast like a high end PC is you're going to utilize about 10% of the extra TF, mostly it's going to idle.

Oh well on the plus side I'm "set" for at least a couple years. It'll be the best console going for at least two years. It's just, not much is exciting me in gaming right now or even the forseeable future, now that I'm "off" Destiny 2. Maybe Red Dead 2? But that's probably several delays away yet. Battlefront 2 kind of, but not relishing the thought of paying $60 for it. . Honestly kind of feeling buyers remorse though currently.
$400 would be so much more palatable.

About noise well, I haven't noticed hearing it at all from the couch so uhh yeah, seems good.

I do like being black again a surprising amount coming from a white Xbox S (which was more because i found a great price on that edition so I was forced to accept the white). The console seems a bit weirdly top heavy to me though, with the smaller base-larger top design.

Err, I dont have a gaming PC (well, at least no GPU currently) and haven't heavily PC gamed in years...why do you keep saying that? Talk about not doing research so on and so forth.

I dunno, just not seeing the huge upgrades on 4k enhanced titles like Gears, Forza etc. I'm sure they're there if you have sharp eyes...

I'm pretty sure I'll keep it because I feel like there's a bit too many Xbox One games where low resolution (down to 720P) is a problem. I think there'd be even less cause for a mid gen upgrade if you owned a PS4 which is a more solid (AKA mostly 1080P) base. Also I guess depends a lot of you have a 4k or 1080P TV obviously.

Also although I have a 4k TV now, I'm not sure I'm seeing a lot of benefit as it's some 10ft away and 55", which according to "those charts" I need a much larger TV at that distance to take advantage of 4k.

Also contributing to my underwhelmed feeling is lack of a new, maybe X1X specific, dash or I dunno, just something snazzy and flashy. I wanna feel da powa in some kind of superfluous way.

I dunno why it caused some big outrage, you guys should know I change my mind every five minutes. Tomorrow I'll probably be posting about how amazing Xbox One X is.

Certainly at least the workmanship/build quality seems superb. For $500 though it better be.

Wow, Rangers - no offence but I expected you to big it up even if you weren't happy! lol

I feel for you. Me personally (upgrading from a PS4 to Pro with a 55" 1080p TV) can understand exactly where you're coming from. Having said that I do get that warm fuzzy feeling that I'm playing the best (PlayStation) version of any games. The thing I struggle with is the TV aspect, I know I need a 65" 4K to get full benefit - and even then I'm not convinced I will see much improvement without stopping to look closely.

Also, FTR XBO setup is the most painful experience ever...PS4 is much easier, I found with XBO a load of problems, you could only download or install one game at a time, and then you had to download the latest version to play - even offline - and again, those downloads - one at a time! With PS4 you can download multiple games, play without updates (obviously not online) and even have one game download updates whilst playing it!

By the time I get my TV upgrade I suspect Sony will be talking about PS5 so I will likely wait for that, reason being (as you have said) going from XBO to XBOX has been underwhelming so what's it going to be like going Pro to XBOX!? Also, I need me those PS exclusives...although I still think for any Xbox fans this console (if affordable) is a no-brainer.

 

[London Geezer]

Going from One to X (or 4 to Pro) with a measly 1080p is undeniably going to be a bit of a disappointment, as much as both MS and Sony pretend otherwise, with supersampling etc.

You really, really need a (good) HDR capable, 4K screen. No amount of supersampling can substitute for the glorious HDR in some games - still hoping for every game to support this! - as well as the added resolution where applicable.